Crane for pickling-tanks, &amp;c.



' Patented Aug. 27, 190i. R. 0. STIEFEL & J. H. NICHOLSON.

CRANE FOR PICKLING TANKS, 8w.

(Application filad June 12, 1900. Renewed June 10, 1901.) (I10 Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet 75 J' WITNESSES INVENTOR'Q m: Noam Pm! 00.. PHOTO-LYING"wunmawn, n c,

Patented Aug. 27, I90l. R. C. STIEFEL 8|. .1. H. NICHOLSON.

CRANE FOB mckuna TANKS, 8w.

(Application filed June 19, 1900. Renewed June 10,1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2..

(No Model.)

m: nonms mm: 00., PHOTO-LI'IMQ,JII$NIHGTON, 04 c.

UNrTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH CHARLES STIEFEL, OF ELLWOOD CITY, AND JOHN H. NICHOLSON, OFPITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO THE STANDARD SEAM- LESS TUBECOMPANY, OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CRANE FoR PICKLING-TANKS, aw

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,27 5, dated August27, 1901. Application filed June12, 1900. Renewedfl'nne 10, 1901. SerialNo. 68,975. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that we, RALPH CHARLES.

OLSON, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, have in 5 vented certain new anduseful Improvements in Cranes for Pickling-Tanks and other Uses, ofwhich the following is a description, referring to the accompanyingdrawings.

The invention is applicable toa great many uses, but has been foundespecially useful as applied to cranes or hoisting mechanism for crateswhich contain tubes and which are lowered into and raised from thepickling solutions by which the oxid or scale is removed from the tubes.

It has been customary to place a number of tubes in a suitable carrieror crate in a horizontal position and then by means of a crane to carrythe crate to the pickling-tank and lower it bodily into the tank. Whenthe pickling has been accomplished, the crate is elevated andtransported to the draw-benches or desired point of destination for thenext step .in the process of manufacturing the tubes. It is desirablewhen hoisting the tubes out of the tank to incline them th at tl ay u.iitbf thepresent"invention to produce hoisting mechanism that willaccomplish this efiect automatically in the opera tion of hoisting thecrates. Preferably the crate is hung by two or more chains at its reispective ends, and in the operation of theimproved mechanism it ishoisted from a hori- 'zontal position within the tank to a positionabove the surface of the solution, where it assumes an inclination ofabout ten degrees,

40. which is found to be a sufficient angle to allow the solution todischarge freely from the interior'of the tubes. A greater angleendangers the slipping of the tubes themselves upon the crate. On beinghoisted farther the crate preferably reassumes a horizontal position.

The invention is capable of many embodiments.

In the accompanying drawings three differcertain details.

. of the crate, asshown.

ent modes of carrying out the invention are shown.

Figure 1 is a side elevation looking parallel with the rails and thetravel of the crane and showing the crates suspended at a slightinclination above the pickling-tank. Figs. 2 and 3 are a side elevationand plan view of Figs. land 5 are corresponding side and end elevationsof modified details of the hoisting mechanism. Figs. 6 and 7 arecorresponding views .of another modification. 7

Throughout the figures like letters of reference indicate the same orsimilar parts.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the traveling bridgecrane a is supported on rails band carries the crate or carrier 0 for the tubes, bars, or otherarticles to be pickled. The crate o is shown immediately above thepickling-tank d. The hoisting mechanism of the crane may be actuated byan electric motor in a suitable casing f or in any other convenientmanner. Two or more chains 9 g" support the crate. Preferably there willbe two chains g g, secured near the respective ends One of the chains,g, may be wound in a spiral groove h upon a cylindrical drum j, mountedupon a powerdriven shaft It. The other chain, g, will be wound upon thesame drum j; but in order to vary the speed of its lifting elfect uponthe crate c relatively to the lifting effect of the chain g a movableidler-wheel l is provided. The chain g runs over this idler Z and pastthe guide-pulley m, and by the movement of the idler l toward and fromthe drum j a retardation or acceleration of the hoisting effect of thechain g relatively to that of the chain 9 is produced by reason of theincrease or decrease of the length of chain extending around the idler Zbetween the drum j and the idler m. This movement of the idler Z iseffected by a connecting-r0111), secured eccentrically by a wrist-pin qto the gear-wheel 1", supported on a fixed center and meshing with thespur-Wheel s on the shaft is. The wrist-pin q may be readily adjustablein a radial slot in the wheel 1", as indicated in Fig. 2 of thedrawings. By supporting the idler Z so that it may move freelyhorizontally-as, for instance, by a suspended link, as shown in Fig.2under the influence of the connecting-rod p and by proportioning thegears r and s so that the gear r makes a complete revolution during thehoisting of the crane from its uppermost positions the chains g g may bemade to raise the crate c from a horizontal position to the inclinedposition shown in Fig. 1 and subsequently at the highest position tosuspend the crate c horizontally.

In Fig. 2 the different positions of some of the parts are shown indotted lines, and from these the operation will be apparent. In thehighest or the lowest position the wrist-pin q is at q, Fig. 2, and theidlerlis at Z. If new the chains g g are unwound, so as to lower thecrate c, the drum j and the wheel 1' turn as indicated by the arrows inFig. 2, causing the idler Z to move toward the right-hand of the figureto the position shown in the full lines in Fig. 2 and tending therebytoshorten chain g, so that the right-hand end of the crate will be loweredless than the left-hand end, as seen in Fig. 1. The inclination becomesgreatest when the wrist-pin q reaches the position q and the idler lreaches Z. When the wheel 1" has made a complete revolution, the crate 0should be at its lowermost position and will of course be againhorizontal. In hoisting the reverse action takes place, the right-handend of the crate being elevated more rapidly, so as to pass into theintermediate position. (Shown in Fig. 1.) When so inclined, the tubesdischarge the solution from their interiors in a few seconds, afterwhich the hoisting is resumed and the crate brought to its uppermostlevel position ready for transportation by the crane a.

In Figs. 4 and 5 the mechanical embodimeut of the invention isdifferent. Ropes g and g, carrying the hoisting-hooks, are wound inspiral grooves on the drum h.

1 The rope 9 runs over a fixed idler m. The

f spiral groove on which the rope g is wound l is not concentric withthat of the ropes g, so

1 that an uneven hoisting of the crate will be produced and the cratewill consequently be Einclined when hoisted part way. In other Erespects the operation of the devices shown E in Figs. 4 and 5 issimilar to that already described. i In Fig. 7 another modification isshown for producing the uneven hoisting of the two chains 9 and g". Hereboth the chains are wound upon cylindrical drums h, one of which isdriven by the shaft 70'. The other is driven through the chain ofelliptical gears 15 t and spur-gears u, tt, u, and u, as shown.Consequently in a half-revolution of the gear tt the gear u" willlikewise make a half-revolution, but in doing so will turn at first moreslowly, so as to lag behind the gear u, and

subsequently will turn faster, so as to complete the half-revolutionwith the gear u.

The invention is capable of a great many modifications without departingfrom the es sential principles. The foregoing description, however, setsforth three preferred embodiments of it, and from these the generalnature of the invention will be fully apparent.

We claim and desire to secure as the characteristic and distinguishingfeatures of the invention the following:

1. In a hoisting and lowering apparatus for crates and the like, incombination the device of two or more cooperating hoisting connec tionsand means for actuating the said connec= tions unequally, and incliningthe crate at an intermediate position when partly elevated, andrestoring the said crate to a horizontal position at the highest andlowest positions, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with a crate or carrier and a crane for hoisting andtransporting it, hoisting mechanism and connections therefrom adapted tobe secured to two or more points of the said crate, including means forelevating one portion of the crate more rapidly than other portions atone part of the movement and more slowly at another part of themovement, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with a horizontal pickling-tank, a pickling-cratetherefor, poweractuated mechanism for immersing the crate horizontallyin the said tank and elevating it at an inclination, a movable crane,said mechanism being mounted on the said crane, substantially as setforth.

Signed this 16th day of May, 1900.

RALPH CHARLES STIEFEL. JOHN H. NICHOLSON.

Witnesses:

HENRY S. MORTON, HAROLD BINNEY.

